Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Watery Wednesday: Wood Ducks

Now that we are in March it seems like spring may be just around the corner. Temps this week are supposed to be in the 30s and 40s and maybe that will spur some of the birds down south to begin their migration north.

Typically the first types of birds that we see come back through here are the waterfowl. Once some of the lakes, rivers and ponds begin to thaw it will not be long before you see ducks, grebes, mergansers, and geese out on the open water. One of the ducks that will nest here in southern Minnesota is the wood duck. These dabbling ducks are cavity nesters that will often nest in man made boxes as long as they are placed in the right habitat. By the time the wood ducks get up here to their breeding territories they will have already paired up and be ready to begin their nest. Because they are already paired up when they arrive on the breeding territory wood ducks are the only duck that regularly produces two broods in a season. Since these pics where taken at Purgatory Creek in August this was most likely this females second brood of 2008.

Howdee...Just saw a wood duck the other day..guess spring has sprung..but ..ha..I am in the Florida panhandle.Although you would never know it. freezing temps overnight last night..and too cold for this wimp to go out until the sun warms everything up...enough of me freezing in Florida.Nice Photos ...

My favorite duck. The past two seasons woody hens have brought their broods to the pond behind our house. They used a neighbor's dock instead of a log to spend the day on. I got to see them grow up..what a thrill...My blog always had lots of photos of the wood ducks..

My buddy and I were doing a bird count one day and we spotted a pair of ducks flying. We panned with them with our binoculars lost them when they flew behind a tree. We just looked at each other stumped. Where did they go? They actually landed in the tree, standing on a branch and were a pair of wood ducks! Nice family shots. Really like the pictures.